MY MOMMA IS AN IRONMAN!!!
Ironman Canada Penticton, BC - August 28th 2011
Well she DID IT!!My Momma ran through that finish line. Ironman Canada, now on her CONQUERED list 
So therefore my Momma is an IRONMAN!!! (Which we knew already but now its a little different)
3:45 a.m. wake up and to the transition and start line it was. Swimming ready in their suits and caps stood the Ironmen and women at the start of mosts greatest race that could possibly take them up to 17 hours to complete. Helicopters buzzed from above while the swimmers took off from the start line which was made of a bunch of miniature ironman canada flags hanging above the lake.
All this happening and getting ready to swim AND EVEN MY MOM WAS EXCITED TO SWIM, OVER 2 MILES! Which is usually never case since she HATES swimming. But IRONMAN WAS HERE!
I was privileged to be at almost 10 different places to see my mom swim, bike and run. Every time she looked awesome and almost as she had just done her sunday morning bike ride, or sunday morning run with her friends. Later in the day it wasn't morning anymore and the sun began to go down and amazingly SHE STILL LOOKED THE SAME, AMAZING! (freak) lol. Although we all know that I am just jealous that she is an Ironman and I'm not 
But I'm super glad I got to be able to be there to support her!
It happened again just like in the half Ironman, she was super happy the entire time, more happy than ever. I had made some rolled up papers writing things to encourage her along the way with a few photos and things, I also had my brother and grandma sign them, most things to make her laugh but others made her cry (unintentionally) so it was pretty funny to see her ride past once on the bike with that rolled up poster in her water bottle holder because she didn't want it to be thrown away. (I knew they were to be throw away so I tried purposely not to make them too awesome)
My Mom pedaled up one of the largest of the passes, a bunch of hills in a line some said over 5 miles in length. They pedaled on up with ease making it look easy and getting those hills out of the way before they switched gears onto the run.
It wasn't until later I found out she was running with the second poster one, in her hand just like a baton! Hahahaha. WHO DOES THAT?! (I guess my momma just loves me) but seriously, its an IRONMAN, you don't stop to carry posters for who knows how long. But she's just cool like that I guess! When she ran into Gina's family spectating she handed it off so she could continue on her last 3rd of her journey to be an Ironman.
I was able to see her one last time running past where there was less than 5 miles left, running strong, her and her good friend Gina were kicking some butt and getting that race done! It was just about dark by then but they made it before they were given glowsticks, and I was also able to watch them RUN THROUGH THE FINISH RIBBON from right against the fence
THATS MY MOMMMMMMAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! Uh huh!
For those of you who would like to know all the split times and things like that. I have posted what I know below.Check THIS OUT! And I just must brag that she passed 629 people on the run…
Lora Olinger
| SWIM | BIKE | RUN | OVERALL | RANK | DIV.POS. |
| 1:36:58 | 7:29:54 | 4:41:03 | 14:06:32 | 1812 | 62 |
| LEG | DISTANCE | PACE | RANK | DIV.POS. |
| TOTAL SWIM | 2.4 mi. (1:36:58) | 2:33/100m | 2527 | 99 |
| BIKE SPLIT 1: 42.5 mi | 42.5 mi (2:31:15) | 16.86 mi/h | ||
| BIKE SPLIT 2: 112 mi | 69.5 mi (4:58:39) | 13.96 mi/h | ||
| TOTAL BIKE | 112 mi (7:29:54) | 14.94 mi/h | 2441 | 88 |
| RUN SPLIT 1: 13.1 mi | 13.1 mi (2:21:00) | 10:45/mi | ||
| RUN SPLIT 2: 26.2 mi | 13.1 mi (2:20:03) | 10:41/mi | ||
| TOTAL RUN | 26.2 mi (4:41:03) | 10:43/mi | 1812 | 62 |
| TRANSITION | TIME | |||
| T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE | 10:05 | |||
| T2: BIKE-TO-RUN | 8:32 | |||
Now that you see SHE DID IT! You can go look at the rest of the photos I took of her the ironman and her friends as well!! They are at my Smugmug site. http://ninaphoto.smugmug.com/ but you can click here to go directly to the Ironman Canada album.
Ironman Canada
GO LORA GO! CHEER CHEER CHEER!!!
Heres to hoping that everyone will cheer for my Momma today as she participates in her very first Ironman!!! Ironman Canada which is held in Penticton, BC. It will be consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26.2 miles, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break. WHICH IS OVER 140 MILES TO TRAVEL BY PERSON(+bike for some)! She has been training for a looooong time and it's finally here so send an encouraging thought her way (or my way and I will pass it on ) so she can finish this potentially 17 hour race as strong as I know she will!! (PS: please hope it will not take her 17 hours, I will need sleep by that time lol) I will post again when I return of the news of my soon to be iron-mother! Thanks for the cheers!
"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
Here's the encouragement thing that I made her! (Even though I know she can do it) :) I love my Momma!
New Years Goals over Half Way!
Here was my New Years goals/resolutions that I set in January. Since it is a little over half way through the year I thought I would reflect on my progress. (Crossed out goals are the only ones I have finished.)
“The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.” ~ Benjamin Mays
I commented on a few, crossed out a few, the rest I'm still working on! I've got a few more months!!
Continue BloggingContinue photo a day (and make it to 365 photos)- Read the Bible
- Train for a triathlon (which I switched to a duathlon since I do not want to swim lol)
- Improve my lung function
Train Axel (my doggie)- Go backpacking
- Ride 50 (maybe 100) miles on my road bike
- Run 5 miles
Finish organizing my iTunes library- Get my mom to karaoke
Consider that done.
I have continued it, but won't reach 365 before the end of the year. So I say, Conquered!
Having trouble reading with all this energy… and having a dog with 50 times my energy hahaha.
Hills… On the course of the duathlon are stopping me at the moment. It's a short ride but with DEATH HILLS. This might migrate to my 2012 goals.
Thinking it might be out of my control, but I'll keep trying.
He's a brat but he can be good…. He knows some cool tricks! I will definitely go back. (For the 4th time)
DONE & done
Things I have done with my New Lungs:
So I thought this sounded like fun. I went through my photos and tried to find some things that I have done since I received my new lungs.
Run Races:
2 miles and 4 miles, more to come! This I was not able to do for years prior to transplant.
Hang out with cool people and eat also lots of food! 
Hike:
Love hiking! So does axel. This I was not able to do prior to transplant.
Be Santa's elf and chill with him and Mrs. Clause:
Yes. So awesome I know.
Ride my bike forever:
Whether its 10 miles of hills or 25 miles flat I CAN DO IT! This I was not able to do for a LONG TIME (if ever) prior to transplant.
Walk my dog:
Almost daily as he has the energy of the energizer bunny… This I would not have been able to do prior to transplant.
Go on adventures:
Have been on many adventures and have many, many more to come! I went on some VERY awesome adventures before my transplant but I always ended up sick or in the hospital shortly after, that does not happen now!
Snowboarding:
I WAS ABLE TO SNOWBOARD AGAIN!!! Without oxygen! Snowboarded with oxygen for a year (made it a few times) and completely skipped a year before my transplant due to health.
Graffiti Hay Bails:
aka make them look like adorable snowmen, photo taken before I finished. Best idea ever, thinking I probably wouldn't have made it with the oxygen.
Have an oxygen saturation of 100%:
This is just completely amazing. Never before seen in the life of Nina, I hadn't even seen 99 before…
Eat Ice cream!
This was actually my first post-transplant adventure, not even a day after I was released from the hospital, and I WALKED TO TCBY! Probably at least a half mile and it was uphill, just awesome, even though eating ice cream is pretty much all I could do before transplant, it was a huge accomplishment to walk there and eat on my own since I had been on the ventilator for so long.
Walk for 2 Causes!
I participated in the Jingle Bell Walk (2 miles) and a Walk for CF (5k) with over 30 super awesome friends and family members!
There you have it! My totally random things I have done since my transplant list. Hope you had fun reading!
Be an organ donor! Save someones life!
My New Years Resolutions Check Up
Here were the things I wrote in my New Year's Post to refresh your memory (as well as mine, lol)
First of all I want to actually continue blogging. Like every other day or so if I can. I was having a lot of fun with it at first and then if fizzled out and I started posting more useless and lame posts. So I’d like to change that in the coming year. Next I want to continue my photo a day so that I get better at my photography and start packing my camera around more.
Then, one of the goals I’ve wanted to accomplish for a while now, was to read through the entire bible. So I hope to finish that goal. Finally I hope to train for a triathlon (swim, bike, run) probably not actually compete in an event but train for one in the future.
As for smaller (or other) things, I’d like to:
Improve my lung function
Train my dog
Go backpacking
Ride 50 (maybe 100) miles on my road bike
Run 5 miles
Finish organizing my iTunes library
Get my mom to karaoke
Best weekend adventure EVER!
- As far as the blogging thing went, I missed a few months and will probably continue to miss a few months and/or weeks throughout the year as I have been really busy LIVIN IT UP with these lungs.
- I will try for sure to work on my photo365 project because I really want to be a better photographer and I now have to ability to walk almost unlimited distances (compared to before).
- I still would love to finish reading the bible and I hope to slowly but surely, reading is not one of my strong areas.
- I decided to cut back on the triathlon training because I am not sure how much I really want to train in swimming and I am really not that strong of a swimmer, I like to swim for fun but maybe in a year or so I will do this. Instead I decided to actually train to compete in the local duathlon. It is a run/bike/run, with distances of 2.6/13.5/2.6miles.
- So far I technically have not improved my lung function. It went way down and then back up, but I have not yet improved it from the baseline out of my surgery. Hoping for this soon!! (Which I may or may not have any control over)
- I have already trained my dog! Axel and I have taken 2 different classes but I do continue to keep him in school (lol) Going for agility next (unless I have to take obedience again hahaha)! I guess I can check this one off, even though it looks to be never-ending!!
- Going backpacking is coming this summer!! WooHoo!
- Ride 50 (maybe 100) miles on my road bike. I've got 25 Miles under my belt so ALMOST THERE just have to go twice that distance next time. I am very excited for this goal, again, waiting for a bit warmer weather!! Plus side is it looks possible to get to the 100 mark before the end of the year.
- Run 5 miles. I ran a 4 mile race!! I am getting cloooose!!!
- Finish organizing my iTunes library, which is doing a ton better, and a lot closer to my musical tastes as I have added and taken out thousands of songs depending on what sounds good to me. I have been identifying songs without info and consolidating like genres etc. I should be done soon!
- Getting my mom to karaoke has proven to be a hard one, BUT I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP HOPE!! This will happen, I cannot promise any proof, but don't worry, I will get my mother to karaoke!
Couch to 5k Plan
"Run a 5k in 9 weeks!"
First off: This is not a RUNNING program, because I know that scares some people away, but this is a WALK/RUN program to GET YOU RUNNING in about 9 weeks.
I know I have written about this before. But since I have been using this more recently and ABLE to get into the later workouts I decided to repost it! So! To anyone thinking there is NO WAY they could ever run a 5k (or 30 minutes straight) this is pretty much a fool proof workout plan for doing just that, because I thought the exact same thing... TWICE!
The above link is to the original couch to 5k plan that I have tried to work through on multiple occasions, before transplant, as I was in between doing "okay" and being really really sick for random periods of time. Now that I have a lot easier time breathing I am hoping to just crush this plan!
Today I am on week 6 day 1 of the plan. I do not move on unless I feel really strong in that particular workout. Like week 4 I repeated twice, and week 5 I turned it into almost a 3 week plan giving each exercise its own week. You can preview a few of the exercises below.
Another awesome chart made to tell you exactly when to start and stop running (specifically for treadmill runners) but will work for anyone that wants to train using time (as opposed to distance which is an option in the first training plan). Click here for the treadmill time chart!
But like me, some are a lot slower than others, especially starting out, so time is a really good way to start, its easy to keep track of, and a good goal that you can see as you go (which I am not sure is a good thing or a bad thing). I actually started covering up the clock on my treadmill and using the Couch to 5k app on my ipod, with cues for when to run and walk, so I had no idea how much longer I had to run and it seemed to work wonders for me!
Here is the link to the ipod/iphone app that I use! This app rocks, you can use your own music, even other apps at the same time while it still keep track of your time, as well as still alerts you when to start running and when to start walking. You are even able to use the Pandora app in the background!! (As long as you have one of the newer multitasking devices) But so far it has made my timing a ton easier as I no longer need to stare at the clock!! I wish I had it when I started!!
LASTLY! Here is the link to my post about the 5k races that I completed before my transplant!
Hope you take on the challenge!! (That is if you are currently a couch potato) 
Out Run CF
A few awesome organizations, The RocK CF Foundation and CysticLife have teamed up to create a super awesome event all over the world and also a super awesome event in Michigan! Here is the race info, the link to the active.com registration (even though a bit late) and also the info for the Rivers Half Marathon & 5k.
Date: Sunday, March 20, 2011
Link to the "Virtual Run" Where people all over the world will be running for the same cause!!
Address: All over the world - Wherever You Want to Run!
Brief Description: The RocK CF Foundation and CysticLife are joining forces to Out Run Cystic Fibrosis and you are invited to help! If you are not running the Rock CF Rivers Half Marathon or 5K March 20 on Grosse Ile, MI but you still want run with us, this is YOUR race! On March 20 you will find a route or race by your house, lace up your joggers and hit the road in your Out Run CF shirt. You are doing this for yourself and you are doing this for the 70,000 people worldwide living with cystic fibrosis.
And here is a link to the Race that is actually taking place!!
My Town
Here in my town I have gathered some friends and family and friends of friends, as well as kids and dogs to get together on sunday to Outrun (and walk) CF! We received our shirts (super awesome at that) and are all prepared for the 5k I have mapped out for us. After sunday I will update you on group and how the Outrun CF Virtual Run went. And yes there will be photos of course!!!!
First Post-Transplant Race!
Honeywagon Runs
Since I have been training (run/walking) with the Couch to 5K Plan, some friends of ours and my mom were going to run a race near our house. So they thought I should do it as well. I agreed of course.
I admit I was a bit nervous as I had not even gotten halfway through (just starting week 5) of the running plan, and the distance was further than I even planned on training for (4 miles instead of 3.2) Well I went for it, I was less nervous knowing I probably wouldn't make it the whole way without having to walk so I just started off slow and tired to save some energy for the finish line. It seems like it was just before or just after mile 3 that I had to start walking due to my ankle bothering me. But I may have made it almost 3 miles running.
Iwalked for a few minutes and continued running, soon you could see the building which was home to the FINISH LINE!!! I tried to run my fastest but with 100yards to go I thought I might die. I was DONE running, and I just kept going.
I had the idea before I started that it was going to take me 2 hours (lol that was just to make myself feel better) but literally I was guessing 1:20 or 80min. Because first of all I had never ran outside before, and secondly I had been running an 18:45 minute mile on the treadmill.
Well I reached the finish like at 52:26!! That's a 13min mile for 4 miles!! Needless to say I was proud of myself and even MORE thankful for my new lungs, because that right there had been what I had always dreamed of doing while I was laying on the couch being pumped with oxygen dreading the walk to the bathroom which is my house isn't very far away.
Thanks momma & Gina for being cool and thanks Dean & Spener for sticking with me! (Thanks Polly for the pics!)
New Year
So it's almost a new year. I know a lot of people set goals and things that they would like to change in the coming new year or things they hope to accomplish. I happen to have set a few for myself.
First of all I want to actually continue blogging. Like every other day or so if I can. I was having a lot of fun with it at first and then if fizzled out and I started posting more useless and lame posts. So I'd like to change that in the coming year. Next I want to continue my photo a day so that I get better at my photography and start packing my camera around more.
Then, one of the goals I've wanted to accomplish for a while now, was to read through the entire bible. So I hope to finish that goal. Finally I hope to train for a triathlon (swim, bike, run) probably not actually compete in an event but train for one in the future.
As for smaller things, I'd like to:
Improve my lung function
Train my dog
Go backpacking
Ride 50 (maybe 100) miles on my road bike
Run 5 miles
Finish organizing my iTunes library
Get my mom to karaoke
Have you thought about what you would like to accomplish in the new year? Even if its something funny or useless just something you've always been wanting to do? Setting a goal and writing it down could help you hold yourself accountable an it will be really great when you accomplish that goal!!
Happy new year everyone!! Hope it's awesome, happy, healthy, and loving!!
Story Time!
Nina-race Story Time!
Here are some photos of a few of the races that I did in the past! (Wishing I could continue with the running) I have actually done 3 5k's from about 40-60% Fev1 (Lung capacity) One of which I wore oxygen for part of. (This is when I say "ANYONE CAN DO IT!!") I even once got together a group to run a 5k with me! Everyone should try it since it makes you feel so accomplished! I have included the group photo of everyone who finished the run! We had a great time and I thank everyone who participated and everyone who has ever ran a race with me! I encourage everyone to look at the link below, its the running plan that's helped me, and a lot of people get off the couch and start a running routine, its easy too!! Hopefully I will be off the couch, or the computer chair, running with you all soon!!
Rock on!
Couch to 5k Running Plan
Quotes & Things
love life
Celebrate life!
I am in charge of how I feel and today I am choosing happiness.
Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.
Life is too short and unpredictable not to live it exactly as your please.
:)
The trick is to enjoy life. Don’t wish away your days waiting for better ones ahead.
Do more of what makes you happy.
Find Me!
Hey! I go by Nina. I was born with Cystic Fibrosis & was recently fortunate enough to receive a double lung transplant. If you're looking for more info about me, please check out the links in the top menu. There you can read my complete lung transplant story as well as see some videos & photos of mine. Feel free to use the above icons to contact or get to know me through other sites I use or follow! Or just read my recent posts! Thanks for visiting!
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